Miraculously Treat Anxiety in Children Using Essential Oils

All I could do was hug him and offer reassurance that everything was going to be okay. My son trembled as he dug deeper into my arms. No words, even those from his daddy could take away the terror he felt. I felt helpless, a failure of a father because I couldn’t help him.

What happened? Someone looked at him.

Sounds crazy doesn’t it?

While normal for most children to show nervousness with strangers, my son, Justice, suffered from a level of extreme anxiety. He would worry about events, places, and experiences that other children would give no thought. He constantly played “what if” in his mind and literally “feared” the possibilities of what could transpire. And when he was around a person or group of people he wasn’t accustomed to seeing, anxiety overflowed his little mind, turning into terror, despair and sometimes even outrage.

For his third birthday my wife and I decided to take him to a large, indoor play area. Our hearts were in the right place but we should have known better. Not five minutes into the place (where we just paid forty dollars for entry), Justice latched onto my leg, hiding his face into the back of my knee. My wife and I pleaded with him to be brave because we knew he would love the experience. After a few moments of gentle reassurance, his breathing slowed and he peeked out from behind my leg. Roughly ten feet away, a small boy was smiling at him. Seeing the other toddler’s eyes, pushed my son’s anxiety over the edge. He trusted his arms around me, exploding in a wave of tears. At that point, we knew there was no point trying to console him. He was beside himself. So we left.

The worst part about experiences like that (and there are many more) is the disappointment Justice always felt afterwards. He wanted to play. He wanted to have fun. For reasons unbeknownst to us, he just couldn’t. Our hearts ached for him.

But what could we do? Was our son destined to become a hermit throughout his entire childhood? Was there a way to help him?

Our Big Breakthrough…Rather – His BIG Breakthrough

A few months before this experience, we purchased a kit of many essential oils from a company called doTERRA. Everyone has their own personal preference when it comes to which brand of essential oils to use; this just happens to be ours. Our kit still had several unopened bottles, as we had only recently started to immerse ourselves into the beauty and magic essential oils provide.

My wife was looking through the unopened bottles when she noticed one labeled “balance.” She went onto doTERRA’s website to read the description and was thrilled to see the blend “creates a sense of calm and wellbeing.”

What was there to lose? She applied the oil to the bottoms of his feet, hoping for a miracle.

Miracle indeed!

We saw an IMMEDIATE change in his behavior. And over the course of the next week we observed:

A more balanced mood.

A brightened outlook on new situations.

An improved ability to handle stress.

More ease around strangers.

Much less crying.

A huge decrease in emotional outbursts.

Who was this new kiddo? He certainly wasn’t the boy we had seen over the last couple of years. Could an essential oil have impacted his mood this much? Skeptical, we kept the therapy up. To our amazement he continued to improve.

I realize not everyone uses doTERRA specific oil blends so I will list (company public information) what ingredients they use in this “balance” blend.

Ingredients

Spruce – From the Canadian grown Black Spruce. Commonly used to invoke a feeling of deep relaxation.

Ho Wood – Distilled from the Cinnamomum camphora, Ho Wood essential oil has an extremely calming effect on the nervous system. It is similar to Rosewood oil and the two are commonly interchanged.

Frankincense –Documented in the Bible as one of the gifts brought to Jesus’ birth by the wise men, Frankincense stands today as one of the most powerful and diverse essential oils in existence. It’s properties are incredibly diverse. Amazingly, Frankincense appears to “boost” the effect of all essential oils combined with it.

Blue Chamomile – Another oil with a huge list of benefits such as mood lifting and anxiety reduction.

While I don’t know the exact percentages of each oil in the “balance” blend, I would recommend 10 drops for each oil except Frankincense, use five drops. Dilute the oils with 20-30 drops of fractionated coconut oil and apply topically (the bottoms of the feet work really well).

Put the blend in a roller bottle and keep on hand at all times. Apply it multiple times a day to your little guy or gal. It’s probably a good idea to also apply it right before meeting a new group of people or being introduced to a new place. Your child will thank you!

Final Thoughts

Extreme anxiety in children can be so taxing on your nerves. Thankfully there are essential oils that will help alleviate their tension and keep them grounded.

One final note: to maximize the effectiveness of essential oil blends, apply liberally and multiple times a day. The key is consistency.